"Girls, can you give your dad and me a minute?" Rayna asked, when Teddy arrived on Sunday afternoon.

Maddie rolled her eyes. She was tired of all the secret conversations. "We'll wait in the car," she said flatly and led Daphne out the door.

Teddy turned to Rayna with a frown. "What's going on?"

Rayna looked away. "Um, I wanted to talk to you about Maddie. And Deacon."

Teddy gave her a sarcastic smirk. "What now? I've already had to give up half my week with my daughter to him, what does he want now?"

"It's not what he wants, it's Maddie. She wants people to know Deacon is her father."

Teddy looked like he was going to blow a gasket. "Are you fucking kidding me, Rayna?" he shouted. "How can you even think about letting that happen?"

Rayna frowned. "He is her father, Teddy. And you knew this could happen. Would happen. How long did you really think we could keep this under wraps?"

"Well, you can be sure I'm going to have a nice, long conversation with her about this."

Rayna shook her head. "Don't. You'll only push her away. She's very set on this and I'm going to try to give it as soft a landing as I can."

Teddy looked at her incredulously. "Are you serious, Rayna? You support this…this disaster?"

Rayna gave him a steely gaze. "If it were up to me, she would keep this just for herself. I don't want her to be subjected to people wanting to get into her life. But she is very determined, Teddy. She doesn't want to have to lie anymore." She smirked. "And who are we to encourage her to lie? Isn't that what got us into this mess to start with?"

Teddy wagged a finger at her. "Oh, no, Rayna, you got us into this. You just had to start back with your relationship with Deacon. You couldn't stay away from him, even though he had made such a mess of your life that you couldn't even tell him he was Maddie's father when you got pregnant. You are the reason we are where we are now. When are you planning on taking responsibility for that?"

Rayna gasped. "How dare you!" she cried. "You were the one that suggested we get married and let everyone think Maddie was yours."

Teddy let out a sharp laugh and shook his head ruefully. "You're right, I did suggest that. Because you were so destroyed you didn't think you had any other options. I did it because I loved you then, Rayna. Because I wanted to help you. You could have gone ahead with your plan to tell your drunk of a boyfriend, but you didn't want to do that." He shook his head. "I told you when you insisted that Maddie get to spend more time with Deacon that any fallout was on you. This is on you. Maybe you need to look deep inside and figure out your responsibility in all this." He started for the door, then turned back. "Do what you want. I know you will anyway, just like you always have. I'll do whatever I can to help Maddie pick up the pieces. If she'll let me, when it blows up in all of your faces. But don't expect me to stand by your side while you do this." Then he walked out the door, slamming it behind him.

Rayna felt sick. She walked into the den and sat down on the couch, hardly aware of her surroundings. She heard Teddy's words in her head. You are the reason we are where we are now. You could have gone ahead with your plan to tell your drunk of a boyfriend. This is on you. She put her head in her hands. No, this wasn't all on her. It couldn't be. He had convinced her it was the only thing to do. That it was best for her unborn baby not to put it in a tenuous situation. Tandy had told her the same thing. You can't trust him. He's never been able to stay sober. Why would this time be any different? Don't give him a chance to hurt that baby. Or you. She started to cry. Oh, my God, did I do this? Is this really my fault? Because I let it happen? As she sobbed, she heard a little voice in her head say, Yes, this is on you.

Teddy got in the car, the anger bristling off of him. Both Maddie and Daphne sensed it and decided not to say anything. The tension inside the car was intense. Finally Teddy put a smile on his face he did not feel. "How was your week, girls?" he asked.

Daphne looked up at him from the backseat, a big smile on her face. "I got a hundred on my math test yesterday!" she exclaimed.

"You did?" He gave her a genuine smile. "That's terrific, Daph."

"And I'm going to be doing a solo at the next chorus recital."

"I'm not surprised. Both you girls have your mom's talent."

"Mom and I went to The Bluebird last night to hear Deacon," Maddie said.

Teddy looked over at her. "Do you really think that's such a good idea, Maddie?"

Maddie rolled her eyes. "Why not? Deacon invited us."

Teddy exhaled sharply. "We'll talk about it later."

"Why not now?"

Teddy looked at her and frowned. "We'll do it later," he said firmly. Maddie scowled and crossed her arms.

"I didn't get to go," Daphne complained from the backseat. "I'm tired of not being old enough to do stuff."

Teddy looked at her in the rear view mirror and smiled a little. "Sometimes not being old enough is a good thing, Daphne," he said, causing Maddie to fume even more.

Once they got to the house, Maddie stomped up the stairs to her room and slammed the door shut. Daphne was still downstairs with Teddy and looked at him and shook her head sadly. "Teenagers," she said with a sigh.

Teddy smiled at her. "So does that mean I can count on you not to act like a teenager when you're a teenager?" he teased.

Daphne got a confused look on her face. "Well, I won't be like her," she said, finally.

"Promise?"

"Promise!" she said with a smile.

"I need to go talk to your sister, so you can go watch some TV if you like."

"Can I watch a movie?"

"Something PG." He winked at her. "I'm going to trust you on that."

"Okay!" Daphne called out as she ran off to the den.

Teddy smiled after her. He was pretty sure she would be just as impossible as a teenager when she got there, but he was thankful he would not have to put up with the particular drama he was dealing with from Maddie. He picked up Daphne's bags and carried them upstairs, leaving them outside her room, and then made his way to Maddie's room. He knocked on her door. "Maddie," he called out.

"Go away!" she called back.

He turned the door knob, which was thankfully not locked, and walked in. "Maddie, we need to talk," he said.

Maddie scowled at him. "I told you to go away."

Teddy gave her a rueful smile. "I'm not going away, Maddie." He walked over and stood next to her as she was lying on her bed. "Your mom told me that you are planning to announce to the world that Deacon is your biological father."

"Stop calling him that. You make it sound like it's something awful." Maddie's face was dark with anger.

"What happened then was awful, Maddie. I don't know why you try to romanticize it."

"I'm not doing that. I'm just trying to find out more about where I came from. Why I am who I am."

Teddy felt angry. It seemed like she was dismissing her entire life with him. "You're who you are because of your mother and me, not because of Deacon Claybourne. I'm not surprised that your mother would try to make this all sound so wonderful and cover up the ugly parts. But Deacon, well, Deacon doesn't even remember any of it, so I don't know what he can add that's of value."

Maddie's eyes widened in surprise. "What do you mean, Deacon doesn't remember any of it?" she asked.

Teddy realized that he'd let his anger take over. As much as he hated Deacon, he hadn't meant to hurt his daughter. He scrambled to cover up his blunder. "I just meant that he doesn't know any of what happened when all those decisions were made. He was back in rehab. He wasn't even there."

Maddie wasn't sure if that's really what he'd meant at all, but she also wasn't sure what Deacon wouldn't remember. "I don't want to talk to you anymore," she said.

Teddy sighed an inward sigh of relief that she had left that alone. "Maddie, I don't think it's a good idea to let people outside the family know that Deacon is your biological father."

Maddie glared at him. "Stop calling him that," she said firmly, enunciating each word carefully.

Teddy walked over to the door. "We're not done talking about this," he said.

"I am," she responded as he walked out of her room. She got up and closed her door, locking it. Then she went back and sat on her bed, pulling her phone out of her backpack. She called her mom, grateful that she answered.

"Hey, Maddie," Rayna said, a note of surprise in her voice.

"Mom, Dad's being impossible."

Rayna frowned. She was sure Teddy had made a point of saying something about Deacon to Maddie. "Why do you say that?" she asked.

Maddie didn't answer the question. "Mom, he got mad about my wanting to say Deacon's my dad and he said Deacon didn't remember any of it anyway. What did he mean?" Her voice was trembling.

Rayna closed her eyes and silently cursed Teddy. She knew he was upset, but she couldn't believe that he had thrown that out there. That was a piece of information she was determined to keep from Maddie, no matter what the cost. She struggled to find her voice. "I don't know, Maddie," she said hoarsely.

"I asked him and he said that it was that Deacon was in rehab, but I don't think that's really what he meant."

"Well, sweetheart, Deacon was in rehab then." Twice, in fact, which essentially covered almost all of that time period. But his blackouts were what really caused him not to know what had happened between the two of them and she knew that fact was hard on him and she wouldn't put in on their daughter. "He wasn't part of the decision at the time. I think that's what your dad meant."

Maddie sighed loudly. "Well, he's being a jerk."

"Maddie, don't say that."

"Well, he is."

"Maddie, he's just scared. He's worried about you, just like I am. And like Deacon is. This is a big deal and it's a little scary." She took a deep breath. "I'll talk to him again, okay?"

"Okay." Maddie felt tears prick her eyes and she rubbed her face. "Bye, Mom."

"Bye, sweet girl." As she hung up, Rayna was furious. She decided she needed to go see Teddy the next day.

Late Monday morning, Teddy got a call from Maddie's school concerning her grades. Her guidance counselor expressed concern about Maddie's lack of attention in class and failure to complete homework assignments. Her grades in several classes had dropped from A's to C's. After he got off the phone, he sat at his desk thinking about what to do. He blamed all of it on Deacon. Deacon and his interference in Maddie's life. He and Rayna had always had an understanding that the girls would focus on school first. He acknowledged that they were talented, but both he and Rayna were in agreement that they would finish college before embarking on any kind of career, performing or otherwise. He decided he needed to put his foot down with Maddie. Clearly Rayna was too involved in launching her new label to pay attention to what the girls were doing. And Deacon, well, Deacon would more than likely undo everything he and Rayna had carefully laid out for Maddie's future.

Teddy was surprised when Rayna burst into his office, an angry look on her face, slamming the door behind her. She marched up to his desk. "What in the hell did you think you were doing when you told Maddie Deacon didn't remember anything? How could you have done that?" Her eyes were flashing and she was clenching her fists.

Teddy stood up slowly, smoothing his tie. "What, did she call you? Text you?"

"She called me, Teddy. She was upset and confused. What is the matter with you?"

Teddy scowled. "Look, she's getting out of hand and challenging me on everything. I didn't mean to say it, but she was being disrespectful."

Rayna shook her head. "Teddy, I have to be able to count on you. I know you're not happy about all this, but that's no reason to hurt Maddie in the process."

Teddy rubbed the back of his neck. "I know that, Rayna. I'm sorry. But she's acting out. And not just about Deacon. Her grades are slipping."

Rayna put her hands on her hips and sighed. "Yes, I know. I got a call from the school."

"I'm going to have to put some pressure on her about her schoolwork. Can I count on your support with that?"

Rayna closed her eyes and nodded. She looked back at Teddy. "Of course. I have your back on that. But I need you to control yourself with respect to Deacon." She suddenly looked weary. "I understand your concern. I am concerned too. But she's fourteen and she's not a baby anymore. She has a mind of her own and, if we push her, I think she could turn away from us. I'm trying very hard to manage that without letting it get out of control. I need you not to fight me about this."

"Rayna, I understand that she's testing her boundaries. And she thinks because she's got this new parent in the mix, that she can use him to put a wedge between us. I want to protect her too." He shook his head. "I think you're making a huge mistake. I don't know that I can support you on this, but I won't fight with you. But I am asking you to protect what I have with Maddie."

"Of course. You're her dad. She knows that. But this is new and she has to explore it." She raised her eyebrows. "And I think we owe her that."

Teddy nodded, but he still worried about what this would mean for Maddie. And for Rayna and him.

Rayna called a meeting late Monday afternoon with Bucky, Tandy, and her PR person to discuss the issue of making a statement about Maddie and Deacon. After her conversation with Teddy, she was afraid that things would get out of control quickly and she wanted to be ready. "I'm not necessarily ready to release anything, but I want to draft something. About my daughter Maddie," she said, as an explanation to Rebecca, the PR lead.

Rebecca looked puzzled. "What about Maddie?" she asked. Bucky and Tandy exchanged glances.

Rayna looked down at her hands, avoiding looking Rebecca in the eye. "Maddie's real father is Deacon Claybourne."

Rebecca's voice reflected her confusion. "But you were married to Teddy Conrad when Maddie was born. I don't understand."

Rayna sighed. "I was pregnant when Teddy and I got married."

"Right…."

"Deacon and I weren't together then, but I was, uh, with him one night, and that's when I got pregnant. Deacon was in really bad shape then and between times in rehab. Teddy offered to marry me and raise the baby as his own."

"Wow." Rebecca looked stunned. Then she wrinkled her forehead. "But I don't understand. Why make a statement about it?"

Bucky cut in then. "Maddie found out that Deacon is her father and they've been exploring that relationship. She wants to make it more public."

Rebecca was silent for a moment. Finally she said, "But nobody knew about this, so it's going to be kind of a big deal." She looked at Rayna. "I'm surprised Deacon would have agreed to let Teddy be the baby's father. Or at least letting it go on all this time."

Rayna took a deep breath and looked away. "He didn't know either." She felt sick saying it out loud.

"My God, Rayna," Rebecca murmured. She sat back in her chair. "This could really be a disaster. How were you intending to announce this?"

Rayna couldn't speak. She looked pleadingly at her sister. Tandy turned to Rebecca. "All we want to do is acknowledge that Deacon is Maddie's father. No other details."

"Tandy, Rayna, this is a pretty big piece of information. There's never even been a hint that Maddie isn't Teddy Conrad's daughter. I think it's going to raise a lot of questions. You don't just throw something out there like that and expect people to just accept it and go on."

"But it's nobody's business," Tandy said testily.

"Maybe not, but it's not enough. All that will do is get the press digging. Which they may do anyway. We need to give them something else."

"Like what?"

Rebecca thought for a moment. "Okay, I think we need to at least acknowledge that the decision was made to allow the Mayor to be Maddie's legal father, but now that Maddie is old enough, she wants to know her real father…."

"I don't want this to be on Maddie," Rayna interrupted. "I would prefer that it just be that Deacon is her father and that the decision was made when I married Teddy to let him be her father. No questions. No further comment."

"But what about the Mayor? And Deacon? What are they going to say?"

Rayna shook her head. "I don't know," she whispered. She got up and walked out then. Tandy got up and followed her.

Rebecca looked at Bucky. "This is going to be a nightmare," she said. "She could be screwed."

Tandy found Rayna standing out on the patio. She walked up to her sister and put her arms around her. "Sweetheart, come…."

Rayna pushed Tandy away and turned, glaring at her. "Lies!" she cried. "Our whole lives have been lies! I can't live like this anymore. The lying has to stop."

Tandy sighed. "I know you don't really want to lay all of this out for everyone to know. Especially Maddie."

"No, I don't. And I don't want to humiliate Deacon any more than he probably already has been. I'm the one that's going to have to take the fall for this. It's all on me."

Tandy looked astonished. "What? Rayna, you weren't the only person involved in this."

"No, but I was the one who was pregnant. I was the one with the decision to make. I was the one who could've made another choice." She threw her hands up in the air. "I wanted to tell him. Even after I knew he was still drinking, I wanted to tell him. I loved him, Tandy. But everyone told me that was wrong. And I was so afraid. So I lied to him." She started to cry. "I lied to the only man I ever loved. And now it's all a mess." She collapsed onto a lounge chair.

Tandy went and sat next to her, wrapping her up in her arms. "You did it for Maddie. Maybe we shouldn't have let it go on as long as it did, I'll give you that. But you were in a terrible place and you made the only decision you could at the time."

Rayna shook her head. "I should have told him. I don't know what I was thinking." She gave her sister a sad smile. "He got sober. He got sober and I should have told him. So many things could have been different if I'd been more brave."

Tandy squeezed her sister's shoulders. "Babe, you were brave. But yes, we could have done things differently. It seemed like the right reason at the time." She took a deep breath. "You could share a little more of what was going on then. That might help."

"No. I don't want to hurt Maddie. I guess if I think about a choice between hurting her and hurting the label, I'd rather hurt the label than hurt her one more time."

Tandy leaned her head on her sister's shoulder. Everything seemed so impossible right now. The truth was that, nearly fifteen years ago now, no one thought about what might happen one day. No one considered that they couldn't keep the fact that Deacon was Maddie's father a secret forever. Tandy felt a pain in her heart as she realized that as much as Deacon had destroyed Rayna with his drinking and addictions, it had destroyed her more to turn away from him.

After dinner that night, Teddy sent the girls off to do homework. He took some calls and then went into the den where Maddie was playing her guitar. Daphne was sitting on the floor across from her, humming along to the tune. He decided not to be heavy-handed. "Hey, girls," he said jovially.

"Hey, Dad," Daphne said. Maddie just smiled.

He looked at Maddie. "So that doesn't look like a presentation on the Battle of Liberty Gap," he said, trying to be easygoing.

Maddie looked up and smiled again. "I'm working on a new song. I'm going to play it for Deacon when I go over there."

Daphne waved some papers. "I finished my math problems. Can you check them for me?"

Teddy glanced at his younger daughter. "Sure, honey, just a sec and I'll do that." He turned back to Maddie. "Maddie, the school called me today and said your grades are dropping and you have a C in history. I know things have been tough lately, but if your hobbies are getting in the way of school…."

Maddie scowled. "Music isn't just a hobby, Dad."

"Well, it's gonna have to be for now." He reached out and took her guitar. "You need to make school a priority. So you need to start working on that presentation. If you make some progress on it over the next couple days, you'll get this back in time to go to Deacon's."

Maddie glared at him and stormed out of the room.